I’ve always been fascinated by androids. Some of my favorite superheroes from my earliest days of comic book reading were the Vision, Robotman (Doom Patrol), the Red Tornado and the original Human Torch (it made sense to me that a robot could withstand all that heat without melting). So mechanical men were on my fourteen year old mind when I created Andrex, a synthetic man constructed to be sent to Mars on a rescue mission for a lost astronaut. Using markers and colored pencils on writing paper, I drew and colored a few pages of this tale, my first comic book work, which I’m posting here. You can see a lot of Red Tornado influence, down to the arrow on his forehead. Drawing comic books was the ultimate dream back in those days!

Recently the talented creator, cartoonist and filmmaker, Clay Sisk came by the studio and interviewed me for his documentary on Texas cartoonists – Pages, Panels and BEYOND! 2. You can watch the first documentary of this series here. It was a blast speaking with Clay and talking about origins, inspirations and future plans. Clay produces his own daily comic strip, Professor Herbert and G.E.O., an all-ages science fantasy series featuring the absent-minded Professor Herbert, his genetically engineered pal, G.E.O., and his robot buddy, Blurb. You can also see Clay’s amazing portfolio at Studio Siskart. It was an all-around great experience, and I’m excited to see the finished doc!

I came across a cache of some of my earliest drawings and I thought I would share them with you. It’s fun to reconnect with early work, it gives you a perspective of how far you’ve come. This is the first book I ever created – I spruced up some grade school assignment with a cover and drawings. The book featured different breeds of dogs including the Greyhound, the Great Dane, Pekingese, Collie, Poodle and Chow. It was made with color marker on poster board and the interior drawings were pencil on typewriter paper. The whole book was stapled along the left edge. And it’s full of dogs, too. Gorr would approve!

It all started with a simple mistake. I updated my ComicPress site and in one little click everything went to heck in a hand basket. The Zombie Boy Comics site that I had cultivated for the past seven years had vanished, and in its place was something I barely recognized. After my wave of panic settled for a brief moment of clarity, I contacted Phil Hofer, a.k.a. Frumph, ComicPress and Comic Easel guru, and my personal hero. Phil helped me regain some equilibrium and walked me through installing Comic Easel and how to switch my former site over, a step-by-step process for which I am forever grateful. All of this took a while to sort through. Meanwhile, I was faced with bills piling up and so I made the decision that I would take a “short” sabbatical to attend to some other little things, like putting some food on my table and keeping a roof over my head. As my focus changed, it became a matter of do I want to survive as an artist, or do I want to continue killing myself to get those strips produced steadily, never missing an update?

It became a matter of making art for pleasure or making art for survival. It’s a tough decision to make, and I lament the strips that could have been created during the time I’ve been offline. But on the other hand, it’s not always a matter of desire, or effort, or commitment… sometimes it comes down to simply a matter of time. When you’re faced with a disconnection notice and you have mere days to keep the lights on, the last thing on your mind is how many puppies will you put in tomorrow’s strip, no matter how fun it would be to make. As an artist making a living on what I produce, every moment I spend creating is a countdown to time spent vs. money generated. The comic strip artists I grew up admiring were able to produce their work consistently because that was how they made their living. That was their job and they were paid to entertain us. And that career is on the short list these days.

I’ve never been a quitter and I won’t start now. I’m gonna continue to try to find a balance between strip-making and living-making, so hopefully you will pardon me for taking a little break after seven continuous years. I strive to create the best strips I possibly can, and I put a lot of heart and soul into every ink and punchline. I appreciate all of you who have read my work and supported me over the years and I’m happy to be back. It feels good to put Zombie Boy and company back online again!

(Philip Hofer can be reached at Frumph.net and on Twitter @Frumph. He also has a Patreon, which is well worth supporting. Thanks again, Phil!)

This is what happens when you yap too much! I met Chris Flick at the 2016 Baltimore Con, and I mentioned to him how much I’ve appreciated his many contributions to the business side of tabling at conventions, and it inspired Chris to publish his latest masterwork, The Essential Capes & Babes. This 250 page treasure trove of choice Flick Capes & Babes comic strips includes “A Beginner’s Guide to Tabling at Conventions,” sixty pages packed with pro advice from someone who has tons of first-hand experience. It’s recommended reading for anyone who wants to make the most of their convention tabling experience. Chris graciously asked me to write the foreword for this terrific tome, and I did the best I could.

I’ve been a fan of Chris Flick for many years now, becoming especially familiar with him through his involvement with the Webcomic Allianceand their amazing podcast, a tremendous resource for comic creators. Chris is a consummate creator, a graphic design veteran, generous with his talent and knowledge, a podcast personality, a man to be reckoned with on many levels!

And as an added bonus, Chris graced my copy of his latest masterwork with this drawing of Roy and Zombie Boy. It couldn’t just stay in there, it HAD to be shared! Monstrously good, don’t you think? (I especially love the Grinch-like feet he gave ZB!) Thank you, Chris!